Although Persona veteran Katsura Hashino directed Metaphor: ReFantazio as a fantasy JRPG in the end, the developers spent some time envisioning the game as something very different, once considering a sci-fi experience rather than a fantastical one.
Speaking to Archipel about Metaphor: ReFantazio in a pre-release interview, Hashino, along with artist Shigenori Soejima and composer Shoji Meguro, provides insight into the JRPG’s development. When the team joined Hashino to work on Metaphor after wrapping up Persona 5, the devs “started wondering what to do next.” At this point, “Hashino started saying he wanted to try his hand at something new.”
That “something new” was still undecided. As the devs began to come together, they say they “went on exploring ideas.” Some of these ideas were more sci-fi-aligned than the fantasy game we have now would lead you to believe, according to the Metaphor leads. “Besides fantasy,” there were “talks about making a science-fiction universe.” Ultimately, however, the team “started actual work upon deciding on the fantasy genre.” The project was, after all, initially codenamed Project Re Fantasy.
By the time Meguro joined the crew, he says devs “were set for the fantasy genre,” which led him toward “using an orchestra to create something richer” after years of pop-heavy soundtracks for Persona. “To be honest, I was really happy about it,” Meguro says.
As a fan of both Persona and now Metaphor myself, it’s certainly an interesting possibility to ponder. I imagine that if ReFantazio had ended up being Sci-Fitazio instead, it would’ve been closer to Atlus’ other banger JRPG series, Shin Megami Tensei, which spawned Persona to begin with. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t personally pleased with how it turned out in the end, though.
Excited for the game, too? Read our Metaphor: ReFantazio review to learn why it’s “an evolution of Atlus’ best RPGs.”